The Calm Before The Storm

Anyone else have that feeling, the Seahawks are going to let all hell break loose and start playing dominant, physical gut-check football.

I feel like the D is starting to get some of its swagger back.

And I think we see a more determined pissed off Russell Wilson who is going to quiet all critics with his play and I think the offense will feed off of that and get behind him if they weren't already.

Yes, but to be fair, I have thought this for several weeks now.

Russell will have to play his entire career trying to silence the critics, that is a bone that is not going to stop being chewed on. The offense needs to stop shooting themselves in the foot, they tried in at least one of the final 3 scoring drives.

The D needs the front 7 to get back to how they were playing end of last season and the overall defense needs to figure out to get the 3rd down completion percentage down to the 37% it was last year vs > 80% currently.

It starts Sunday. Great opportunity to steady the course. I look forward to finding out if indeed things will be trending up.

kidhawk":2m2zcprs said:

Yes, but to be fair, I have thought this for several weeks now.

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Same with me after that Chargers loss. I thought they would dominate the Skins on Monday night and go on a bit of a winning streak until they would lose sometime in that week 11 to week 15 range when they had some really tough games. Now every game seems to be do or die and if the Hawks can regain some of that swagger this week and going into that home sand against the Raiders and Giants that would be great.

All in all, I'm more worried about the defense than the offense. I think the offense will start to get on track a bit (like it seemed to do in the second half against the Rams), but the defense just seems to be a bit off and until the D-line can start moving the QB's around a bit and getting a sack here and there, I think some of these games will be a lot closer than they should be.

kidhawk":and7vuma said:

Yes, but to be fair, I have thought this for several weeks now.

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It's been a weird season, imo. I think the opener was a nice carryover from 2013, but the SD game clued everyone in to the fact that this was going to be harder than most people were picturing it.

Then, against Denver, I thought the team righted the ship. They held the Broncos down for 3 quarters and made it look like a return to form, even with the blown lead in the 4th quarter. The march down the field in OT was beautiful.

Then came the bye and the Washington game. I felt (and still feel) that the early bye destroyed any chance of developing momentum off the Denver game and that things with Harvin were really coming to a head here. The offensive struggles in the 3rd quarter were a concern, and they manifested again in the Dallas game. Add to that the injuries on D that were making the usual dominating defense look positively mortal, and it had me worried.

But I do think the game against the Rams was a turning point, at least in the 2nd half. I think that even while the game was a loss, it required creativity and guts and no small amount of luck on the Rams' part to take that game. And it seemed to me that the team was sort of exorcising demons throughout the 2nd half. I'm hopeful that they can build on that 2nd half and carry it over to the Carolina game. If they can, I do think they'll start to look more like last year's squad (with the huge caveat that people who are dinged up come back healthier and that we don't suffer any more significant injuries).

kidhawk":1s7rh0jf said:

Yes, but to be fair, I have thought this for several weeks now.

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Exactly.

After San Diego I was like, "well I was hoping the wakeup call was gonna come later, and I was hoping to learn the lesson without dropping a game, but better now than in the playoffs."

Then there was Dallas and I was like, "wow, now they're REALLY gonna wake up."

Then there was St. Louis, and it seems .NET is split--some are predicting, "OH *NOW* THEY'RE GONNA BE PISSED OFF".

I do think we win @Carolina--I also thought we would win all 3 of our losses--but I'm more in the cautiously "maybe we're just not a serious SB contender this year" camp at this point.

I wish I could be as confident, at least on the defensive side.

I do have faith that our offense will continue to improve now that we're back to our traditional run game comes first physical style mentality.

But the defense? What gives you hope that they'll turn things around? The line still a mess, and that's where it starts. Doesn't matter if the LB's and LOB play well, because no back seven can play lights out when they're having to cover guys twice as long as they normally do because the D-line can't get pressure on the QB.

They dont have a choice...

cant drop to 3-4. just cant

Pandion Haliaetus":3jolht3p said:

Anyone else have that feeling, the Seahawks are going to let all hell break loose and start playing dominant, physical gut-check football.

I feel like the D is starting to get some of its swagger back.

And I think we see a more determined pissed off Russell Wilson who is going to quiet all critics with his play and I think the offense will feed off of that and get behind him if they weren't already.

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Considering the D gave up a killer 90'ish yard TD drive at the end of the 4th quarter I'm not sure where you are seeing that. I would love love love to see the D come back but when we needed them most in the Cowboys and Rams game they gave up long drives in the 4th.

Uncle Si":jxdqqdlu said:

They dont have a choice...

cant drop to 3-4. just cant

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^This.

I always feel that they will dominate.

I am finding it harder and harder to listen to those feelings anymore.

My screaming, "WTF?" at the television is becoming more and more frequent every week.

It just felt like something clicked on during the 2nd half of the Rams game, it felt everyone was on the same page offensively and we weren't going to be denied. Wilson went Super Saiyan.

And I know the D gave up that 90 yard TD but it was the Rams only score of the 2nd half and the D forced them into a 3 and Out on the fake punt pass, nd no matter how demoralizing that was, the D stepped up and forced a fumble that just barely bounced the wrong way on a play the Refs handled badly regardless of who had the ball at the end.

I'm just saying for the first time this season, in that 2nd half, the Seahawks actually looked like the team that got them to the Superbowl.

Fisher was so scared of Wilson, he made one of the gustiest play-calls in NFL history going for it on 4th and 3 on his own 18 yard line. That's respect.

I just feel something is different than what I felt after the Chargers, Cowboys games.

Call it desperation or sense of urgency in being 3-3 but I think the players got their asses kicked back into reality by a 1-4 team, no more execuses, hangovers or honeymoon phases... just a straight up return villianry and playing physical, bullying football again.

Pandion Haliaetus":bhdiso2t said:

It just felt like something clicked on during the 2nd half of the Rams game, it felt everyone was on the same page offensively and we weren't going to be denied. Wilson went Super Saiyan.

And I know the D gave up that 90 yard TD but it was the Rams only score of the 2nd half and the D forced them into a 3 and Out on the fake punt pass, nd no matter how demoralizing that was, the D stepped up and forced a fumble that just barely bounced the wrong way on a play the Refs handled badly regardless of who had the ball at the end.

I'm just saying for the first time this season, in that 2nd half, the Seahawks actually looked like the team that got them to the Superbowl.

Fisher was so scared of Wilson, he made one of the gustiest play-calls in NFL history going for it on 4th and 3 on his own 18 yard line. That's respect.

I just feel something is different than what I felt after the Chargers, Cowboys games.

Call it desperation or sense of urgency in being 3-3 but I think the players got their asses kicked back into reality by a 1-4 team, no more execuses, hangovers or honeymoon phases... just a straight up return villianry and playing physical, bullying football again.

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Not a bad shout really.

I mean we are a wonder play from Romo and the fake punt away from being 5-1 and only a slightly manic board. thats how thin the line of success is in the NFL.

2nd half of the Rams sort of reminded me of the 2nd half of the Falcons playoff game.

I think all of this struggle is a symptom of Kam being injured and the tremendous lack of depth by the CBs being injured.

Yes, the pass rush falling into oblivion is a huge issue too but the idea that we give up the middle, lock down the rest and rely on our guys to slam people when they catch the ball in the middle - falls apart with no Kam.

I don't know if there is anything that can be done really. Kam clearly needs the surgery or the whole thing falls apart. Kam not getting the surgery already hurt us bad. But he is out 6+ weeks if he gets it.

It feels like unless Kam starts getting better, this team is going to struggle because he is the primary intimidation factor in the secondary. Remember we lost Browner, who was the 2nd most intimidating player in the secondary.

I sort of accepted it that without those guys we just have a defense that is a shell of what it was but I would love to be proven wrong.

We were scrapping on D at the end of that game forcing a 3 and out when we needed it, then Pete puts his head in the sand and we get tricked.

The D then actually came up with a fumble which we know the outcome of.

I guess what I am saying is I like what I saw there at the end, and it is something to build off of.

Carolina is a team we should be competitive with while we nuke Dr. Evil and get our mojo back.

Our offense is set to go off and this week it will.

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This team is MUCH better suited to play with a chip on their shoulder and the whole world doubting them. Playing as nationally lauded favorites, not so much. They are right back where they are comfortable.

SeaTown81":2b1duc7u said:

This team is MUCH better suited to play with a chip on their shoulder and the whole world doubting them. Playing as nationally lauded favorites, not so much. They are right back where they are comfortable.

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All we need is an article about how JR Sweezy acts too black for his white teammates to put us completely over the top.

I don't think this team is close to the caliber we all expected, but I do think they'll win at least the next two.

I'd LOVE to see a 40 burger, but I'll take a W in any fashion. I've had this weird 'pins and needles' feeling the last couple of days. I sure hope they make a statement.

Go Hawks!

kidhawk":3bqgquej said:

Yes, but to be fair, I have thought this for several weeks now.

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Ding ding ding

My thought exactly. I've been thinking this since our stumbling, bumbling win in DC.